Northern Ireland, the United States and the Second World War. Faithful sentinel

In Northern Ireland, The United States and the Second World War, Simon Topping analyses the American military presence in Northern Ireland during the war, examining the role of the government at Stormont in managing this 'friendly invasion', the diplomatic and military rationales for the deployment, the attitude of Americans to their posting, and the effect of the US presence on local sectarian dynamics. He explores US military planning, the hospitality and entertainment provided for American troops, the renewal and reimagining of historic links between Ulster and the United States, the importation of 'Jim Crow' racism, 'Johnny Doughboys' marrying 'Irish Roses', and how all of this impacted upon internal, transatlantic and cross-border politics. This study also draws attention to influential and understudied individuals such as Northern Ireland's Prime Minister Sir Basil Brooke and offers a reassessment of David Gray, America's minister to Dublin. As a result, it provides a comprehensive examination of largely overlooked aspects of the war and Northern Ireland more generally, and fills important gaps in the history of both. Northern Ireland, The United States and the Second World War is essential for students and scholars interested in the history of Northern Ireland, American-Irish relations, the Second World War on the UK home-front, and wartime transatlantic diplomacy. "Northern Ireland, The United States and the Second World War analyses the various responses to the American military presence in Northern Ireland during the Second World War, and its legacy in the years immediately thereafter. Simon Topping examines the political attitude of the Northern Irish government, as well as that of Irish Nationalists and the Americans themselves. He considers the internal political impact of America forces, hospitality provision for American troops, and the memorialization of the occupation in the war's aftermath, among other topics. This study draws attention to influential and understudied individuals such as David Gray, the American minister for Dublin who was recruited to the Unionist cause, and the Northern Irish Prime Minister Basil Brooke, who visited the USA in 1950. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of this largely overlooked aspect of the war, and the history of Northern Ireland more generally. This book is the first monograph-length political history of United States involvement in Northern Ireland, and is essential for students and scholars of Irish and American history, the Second World War, and political and diplomatic history"-- Provided by publisher Introduction: 'The Ties of Kinship' -- 'Céad Míle Fáilte': One Hundred Thousand Welcomes! -- 'Stepping Stone to Berlin': The US military in Northern Ireland -- 'Absolute and Executive Jurisdiction': Policing and Managing the Yanks -- 'If you can't see the hills': Occupying the Occupiers -- 'My own country overrun': Irish Nationalism and the American presence -- 'To clear this territory of such forces': The IRA and the Americans -- 'Developments in Northern Ireland': The Belfast Consulate and the War -- 'Johnny Doughboy met a Rose in Ireland': Women and the Americans -- 'Dusky Doughboys': Jim Crow racism in Northern Ireland -- 'A Testy Old Gentleman': David Gray, Hyphenated-Americans and Partition -- 'Ulster Had a Hand in the First Independence Day': Ulster-American Revivalism and the Second World War -- 'Letters from Ulster': Propaganda, Memory and the Americans -- Conclusion: 'Without Northern Ireland'